Chicago's Best Gathering Spaces

         I gravitate towards gatherings of people and grand objects. Coffee shops resonate with hum and buzz of people doing work, and hot drinks being made. Books, laptops, headphones, and steaming mugs gather here, people emerge from this fabric as vibrant points of cerebral activity and sparkling conversation. Art gathers in museums. Statues, paintings, and artifacts mark territories of new and ancient times, of gestures, of craft. Classrooms are still more gathering places for books and great minds.

         It's an acute pleasure to spend time being keyed in to these environments. Which is why my trip to the Art Institute of Chicago and the Harold Washington Public Library this past weekend felt like the ultimate treat to myself. They serve as gathering spaces for art, meditation, and learning, for quiet yet earnest "buzz". 

Grilled doorway

Chicago Methodist Church

I spent some hours walking around downtown Chicago and soaking in its tall buildings like grand gestures. I absorbed its all-around cityness - classy people walking and taking buses everywhere, architectural elegances dotting the visual landscape, and the the constant sound of the El Train facilitating Chicagoans like the vital artery of it all. Arriving at the Harold Washington Public Library marked the end of my walk around The Loop. 

The Harold Washington Library has something called a "Winter Garden" on the 9th floor (and yes, there are 9 floors...and also giant brass owls on each corner of this gorgeous red brick building). It's a constantly heated ballroom-like space with a balcony, chandeliers and glass ceiling, even real trees and plants growing inside. With its accompanying tables and chairs, any weary urbanite can come here to read or relax. I didn't even have a library card - it's an open public space. Spending a couple hours reading Ambient Rhetoric (and watching an episode of Star Trek: Voyager) was a perfect mid-day break from adventuring.

Harold Washington Public Library

Winter Garden

Next stop was the Art Institute of Chicago. I've seen most of the museum proper, so I zeroed in on the rotating exhibits. Who knew if I'd get to see them again? Exhibits ranged from photography to "touchable" statues, and while they were great, one exibit in particular was riveting. In a simple blue room within the Modernism wing resided the Chicagoisms exhibit. Based on a book of architectural theory, the Art Institute had built a room detailing Chicago's identity as an architectural playground, a conduit for creativity, and as a highly complex institution in its own right. I got to see old city maps, beautiful quotes from abstract theorists, and interactive 3D artist representations of "city creativity". Having recently garnered an interest in the rhetoric of urban spaces, I was like a kid in a candy shop.

Description of Chicagoisms

Old city map

Of course, I ended up buying Chicagoisms from the gift shop, and I sat in the member lounge of the institute to read it (and yes, I am a nerd enough to be a member; students get to have a year-long one for only $50, and it's been completely worth the investment). The lounge is a quiet cafe gathering-place with complementary tea, coffee, and large comfy couches. I read for yet another couple of hours there while sipping some jasmine tea. All in all, it was a blissful day spent in some of the city's best gathering spaces. 

I'm a nerd.

Travel Plans - Readjusted

Logistics and fate are a funny things. They can derail even the best of plans. Such has been the case with my planned train trip for this summer. Unavailability of housing in some cities, lack of funds for certain activities, and poor timing took a toll. It's neither responsible nor feasible to go gallivanting around the country this time around. I'll embark on my trip next summer instead. 

This was deeply disappointing. Lafayette, especially after this past semester of grad school, began to feel like the place the universe conveniently dumps on all the time. Severely poor weather, a school shooting, tough classes, a dose of heartbreak, and general malaise were slapped on top of life's usual grievances. A train trip catapulting me thousands of miles away not only felt exciting - it felt absolutely necessary. 

I'll admit, I was deeply negative and cynical for days after Logistics came knocking on the door; to anyone who had to spend time with me, I'm sorry. :P Losing travel prospects put me in a truly foul mood.

But recently, I've found ways to accept that extensive travel wasn't in the cards, and life can be good here in Lafayette. My schedule has "breathing space"now without the heavy pressure of school. I can craft my plans with abandon, unrestrained by too many obligations. I don't know what shenanigans I will be up to, even hour by hour. I can wake up when I want. Walk places, take public transportation, ride my bike, hang out with friends, make a giant blanket fort out of my apartment...the magical element of time uprooted me from the miasma that settled in. Potentialities abound, and it feels exciting.

In other words, I can enjoy all the benefits of travel while staying in Lafayette because I have time. And there's plenty of Lafayette I've not seen. So the wanderlust is still on.

This new perspective's been working out - life is unexpectedly beautiful lately. It's included walking around a gorgeous park barefoot with friends during rare perfect weather. Making my own hummus. Reading Jamaica Kincaid's A Small Place, a beautiful yet scathing indictment against globalized racism through "tourist" descriptions of Antigua. Cheering on my friends at their softball game, then drinking with them at Chumley's afterward. Spending time at hookah bars and coffee shops, and laughing while watching a terrible sci-fi movie with friends. And watching Star Trek: Voyager is doing wonders soothing my hankering for adventure. 

The future holds equally beautiful prospects. A friend and I want to do a "patio" tour of Lafayette, reading and conversing at establishments with good outdoor seating. Possibly also writing about them. Biking trails skirting the edges of the river and the city are worth exploring. Recipes for all kinds of fun dishes demand to be made. Why stop at hummus? And let's not get started on how many shows and movies I still need to watch.

Like a good friend told me some weeks ago - life is all about framing. It's how we see things. If I (arrogantly) decide that Lafayette isn't good enough for my wanderlust, then it won't be. And I'll just be left with my bad attitude. But accepting the cards I'm dealt with and deciding that I can still be happy means that I will be.

Sounds good enough to me. Bring on Summer 2014! Adventures! Shenanigans! In Lafayette, Indiana.